President Donald Trump has signed new pardons for two defendants connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot who were also facing charges unrelated to the events of that day.
One of the recipients is Suzanne Kaye. Along with her Jan. 6 case, Kaye was sentenced to 18 months in prison over social media posts that prosecutors said included threats against FBI agents. According to the Justice Department under President Joe Biden, Kaye posted videos on Jan. 31, 2021 — one day before she was scheduled to meet with FBI agents about a tip placing her at the Capitol on Jan. 6 — in which she said she would “shoot” agents if they came to her home. Investigators became aware of the posts on Feb. 8, 2021, and arrested her nine days later at her Florida residence.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that Kaye suffers from stress-induced seizures and experienced one in court while the jury delivered its verdict in 2023. The official described the case as involving political speech protected by the First Amendment.
U.S. Special Attorney Ed Martin announced the pardon on Saturday and praised Trump in a post on X. Martin said the prior prosecution reflected what he called politicized targeting by the Biden Justice Department and framed the pardon as part of correcting that approach.
The second pardon went to Jan. 6 defendant Daniel Wilson. Although Trump’s sweeping Jan. 20, 2025 pardon covered Wilson’s riot-related conviction, Wilson remained in custody because he had also pleaded guilty to firearms offenses. A White House official told Fox News Digital that the administration decided to extend a separate pardon to Wilson because the weapons were discovered during a search of his home tied to the Jan. 6 investigation.
Wilson had been sentenced to five years in prison for his Jan. 6 conduct and separately pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of an unregistered firearm. Those firearms charges were not explicitly included in Trump’s original pardon, which applied to people “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” Wilson was expected to remain imprisoned until 2028.
Court battles followed over whether the original pardon should cover the firearms counts. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich rejected a broader interpretation, saying the phrase “related to” required a direct factual connection to what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6. An appeals court later agreed, leaving Wilson incarcerated while the legal dispute continued. The Trump Justice Department initially argued the firearms charges fell outside the pardon, then reversed that position, citing “further clarity” without elaborating.
Wilson has previously described himself as a member of the Oath Keepers and the Gray Ghost Partisan Rangers militia, according to Politico.
After the expanded pardon, Wilson’s attorneys said he was grateful to be released and viewed the decision as an act of mercy that also highlighted what they described as government overreach.
